State Senate President Robert Stivers says rising Kentucky property values could ease the demand for school funding.

The Republican says he's open to increasing the state’s share of elementary and secondary education money. Education leaders are pressing lawmakers to restore funding to pre-recession levels. The Department of Education wants $336 million from the Commonwealth for the two-year budget cycle that begins in July.

Stivers says a large infusion of state money may be unnecessary property values should go up as Kentucky’s economy recovers. Local property taxes are a key funding source for schools.

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Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday says teachers could faces layoffs and school districts could fail financially if education funding is not restored.

Holliday has pushed lawmakers to restore per-pupil funding levels to pre-recession levels. That request is more than $250 million dollars for the two-year budget that lawmakers will set when they return next year.